It certainly isn’t a girl’s best friend, but it is a great imitation of that girl’s best friend known as the diamond. A rhinestone can be made of rock crystals, glass or acrylic. The original rhinestones were gathered from the Rhine River, hence their name. Georg Friedrich Strass, an Alsatian jeweler who discovered he could actually make rhinestones out of glass by coating its lower side with metal powder. It is no wonder then that rhinestones are also called Strass in many parts of Europe.
Rhinestones are excellent diamonds imitations. Good manufacturers can even imitate the sparkle of real diamonds under the sun. It was in 1955 that Aurora Borealis or “Aqua aura” was coated on crystal stones to produce the diamond’s iridescent effect. Aurora Borealis has the property of reflecting back the color that is near it. It was named after the phenomenon of Northern Lights, also known as Aurora Borealis atmospheric phenomenon. Aurora Borealis is a manufacturing process using vacuum-sputter and thin metallic coating.
The crystal rhinestones in the past were used primarily to add glitter to costumes, clothes and jewelry. Now you can find them in characteristic beautiful form on cellphones, iPods, mp3 players, and flip flops – all of which you can find on eBay.
Rhinestones crystals are produced primarily by Swarovski in Austria by Preciosa in Czech Republic. Swarovski began making crystal rhinestones and beads in 1892, when Daniel Swarovski invented an automatic cutting machine, thus opening his first factory in Austria. Crystal beads and rhinestones by Swarovski are considered the best quality rhinestone beads in the world’s market.
Its unique market positions probably stems from the fact Swarovski creates a unique type of glass that other rhinestone manufacturers can’t duplicate – it uses a special compound composed of natural materials, enabling their stones and beads to have an incredible brilliance. In fact, jewelry artists and its other buyers consider it to be the Rolls Royce brand of crystal beads and rhinestones.
There are hand-cut rhinestones and machine-cut rhinestones. Hand cut diamonds are, obviously cut by hand. Even to the uninitiated eye, hand cut rhinestone crystals have a different beauty about them that machine-cut and perfectly cut crystals cannot match.
Rhinestones first became popular in the Art Nouveau Movement from 1890 to 1910. This Art movement had none of the somberness of the Victorian era. At this time, creative romantic energies put forth jewelry that mimicked life – realistic and otherwise.
It was in the 1940s that Nudie Cohn first made the Nudie suit, which was studded with rhinestones. It was essentially the Americanized version of the matador’s suit. Remember Glen Campbell’s 1975 hit Rhinestone Cowboy. Rhinestones were also associated with Liberace and Elvis Presley. These days, custom rhinestone items by Swarovski are in high demand, especially by celebrities and fashion conscious women.
Preciosa rhinestone crystal items, on the other hand are used by leading fashion brands for making costume jewelry. Then again, even with the rhinestone’s popularity, you can still hear Marilyn Monroe singing in the background “I don’t mean rhinestones but Diamonds are a girl’s best friend”. GP
